Bernard Madoff

Bernard Madoff's family turned him in to authorities in December, blowing the whistle on what authorities said he described as a "giant Ponzi scheme."

Authorities say Madoff confessed to family members that he had for years been paying returns to certain investors out of the principal received from others until he had only $200 million to $300 million remaining.

The charge against Madoff carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Other charges could be added as the case is presented to a grand jury.

The former head of a Chicago investment firm tearfully apologized to his victims, sobbing as he addressed family members he'd scammed, before he was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison for stealing more than $9 million in a Ponzi scheme.
But some...

George Suyeoka worked as a textbook illustrator and as a commercial artist while also producing his own elaborate, functional-but-whimsical sculptures — often of animal forms — that in many cases provided commentaries about politics and society.
"He...

The New York trustee recovering money for investors cheated in Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme has distributed $355 million more to victims.Trustee Irving Picard said in a release Monday that over half of Madoff's investors with...

We've all heard and read extensively about the notorious Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Thousands of personal investors and charitable organizations lost money. It is hard to imagine a more sinister misconduct. But there is one, one that ties both hands of...

I'll say this for Bruce Graham's "White Guy On the Bus," now premiering at the Northlight Theatre: It is a play with guts. This writer has previously been inclined toward sentimentality, as such sweet works as "Stella and Lou" and...

Q. Should I put all my retirement accounts with one brokerage/financial firm? I have two accounts at one firm out of town, and a recently inherited account with another firm here in my hometown. The same applies to my husband's accounts. My daughter...

Five former employees of Bernard Madoff, convicted in March of helping the fund manager bilk investors of billions of dollars in his massive Ponzi scheme, will be sentenced this week, with prosecutors seeking prison terms of up to 20 years. Like the...

You're so vain, I bet you think this story's about you — don't you. Don't you?
We're paraphrasing Carly Simon's iconic song because it perfectly describes a narcissist. Vanity, entitlement and lack of empathy are the main traits you'll find — and...

A potential Bernie Madoff does not lurk behind every financial planner's desk. This is just as well. Most of us working stiffs struggle enough to save rather than spend without watching our 401(k)s be subsumed into a Ponzi scheme. But experience does...

Dick Cheney and his fellow neoconservatives misled us into a mismanaged war in Iraq where they were wrong on everything. This includes their reasons for the war, how long it would last and the sectarian violence it would unleash. They turned Iraq into the...

This weekend the new season of Chicago theater gets underway in earnest. If there is an unintended theme of the fall, I'd say it is that Chicago theater finds itself collectively engaged with issues dealing with the final years of our lives. If you have a...

Cooler temperatures and changing leaves might cue the chants of “wait until next year” for Chicago baseball fans, but for theater lovers it's a whole new ballgame. Below are just a few promising names on this fall's roster of shows.
HEAVY HITTERS
“The...

Andrew Madoff, the son of convicted fraudster Bernie Madoff, died on Wednesday from cancer, his lawyer said. He was 48.
"Andrew Madoff has lost his courageous battle against mantle cell lymphoma," lawyer Martin Flumenbaum said in a...

In the first of the major 2014-15 season announcements from Chicago’s theaters, Northlight Theatre said Wednesday that its 40th anniversary season will include a fall production of Amanda Peet’s “The Commons of Pensacola,” an off-Broadway play inspired by...

WASHINGTON — A case filled with strange twists and turns took a detour into confusion Monday night when a spokeswoman linked to former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. announced that the ex-congressman had reported to federal prison but prison officials said he was...

WASHINGTON – The end of the Jackson family political dynasty arrived Wednesday as a Chicago power couple ready-made for the cameras learned the next few years of their lives will be spent taking turns in prison.
Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., the...

Most people don't start their day combing the newspaper for headlines about white-collar felons. But for Kelly Richmond Pope, it's just part of the job as a forensic accountant, and one she shares with students at DePaul University, where she is an...

ABOARD AMTRAK TEST TRAIN – The fierce, unresolved debate over whether the U.S. can afford to invest billions of dollars on high-speed passenger rail seemed to fall by the wayside, at least temporarily, in the heartland on Friday when an Amtrak train...